Colin Kaepernick still wants to play in the NFL again, but let's be real

It was eight years ago when the then San Fransisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick dominated the headlines by taking a stand against police brutality by kneeling during the National Anthem before one of his games.

This sparked tremendous backlash against him, the NFL and the 49ers. Kaepernick was eventually released by San Francisco and he hasn't taken a regular season snap since 2016.

Kaepernick may have been released for the distraction that he was bringing to the 49ers and to football in general. OR he may have been released because he held a 1-10 record on the 2016 season while holding a 72-30 career touchdown to interception ratio.

Colin Kaepernick isn't an NFL caliber QB, period

The once controversial quarterback has recently expressed his interest in returning to the NFL as the season draws closer and closer. Listen to what the ex-49ers signal caller had to say here:

There have been some pretty questionable decisions over the past few seasons where we have seen quarterbacks start games that just weren't ready to be in the league. There was even an instance with the Denver Broncos where they played a wide receiver at quarterback after all of their rostered signal callers ended up sick or hurt. That game went about as horribly as imaginable.

It's situations like that where the Kaepernick believers push the narrative that he still belongs in the NFL.

But now, it's been eight years since he took a professional football snap. We see players fall off terribly if they hold out and skip training camp. It's almost impossible for Kaepernick to have stayed in physical and mental condition over all these years.

Plus, he was never a high-quality QB anyway. He was an average, at best, player at the position that was a decent runner with the football. At the age of 36 now, there is almost no feasible way that his skills are anywhere close to his league average skills from a decade ago.

If there is a road for Kaepernick to get back to the NFL, it's certainly not by talking to reporters and suggesting that owners need to "open up" or give him a chance. There may be a path for him if he joins another professional football league and proves himself as a player and competitor. The 36 year old would need to show that he is even better than he used to be over a full season before he ends up on an NFL roster again.

Kaepernick may have been treated poorly in the initial aftermath of his kneeling for the National Anthem decision, but there's one simple reason that he isn't on an NFL roster. He's not an NFL level quarterback anymore. Period.